Learning from their mistakes: glimpses of symbolic functioning in two-and-a-half to three-year-old children.

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How can teachers and other adults help improve children's thinking?

The research gives insight into how children learn to use symbols effectively and efficiently, on which effective strategies can be built. This and other related research highlights in particular that the more experience children have with symbols in their daily lives, the more capable they become of recognising symbols and understanding their significance. The authors therefore suggest that this knowledge could be used actively by carers and educators of young children. Activities could be planned which are be appropriate to the child's stage of development to encourage the development of symbol use in problem solving, including:

talking with children to help them think through and plan their problem-solving strategies, drawing them or writing them down;
encouraging children to talk about or demonstrate their ideas in solving a problem, and to listen to others ideas, since verbal and nonverbal social interaction plays an important role in the developing understanding of symbols;
providing opportunities for success without causing too much frustration for younger children who have not yet developed the ability to effectively use symbols;
providing encouragement without telling children what to do, for example, "Have you considered..." rather than "Try this..."

Your path: Home > Welcome to The Research Informed Practice Site (TRIPS) > Themes > Early years > Learning from their mistakes: glimpses of symbolic functioning in two-and-a-half to three-year-old cFriMar191511092004 > How can teachers and other adults help improve children's thinking?
Research Home Themes \| Find digests \| About the digests resources glossary researchers contact TRIPS Introduction How do children's problem-solving skills develop between the ages of 2½ and 3? What do we know about young children's thinking? What did the research show? How were the tests performed? How can teachers and other adults help improve children's thinking? Implications Where can I find out more? Send us your feedback Collated digests To view/remove/add notes and save your collated digests click here Get Word Reader Learning from their mistakes: glimpses of symbolic functioning in two-and-a-half to three-year-old children. This digest found in Early years Thinking skills Send to a friend Word doc 50KB Printer friendly Collate for later How can teachers and other adults help improve children's thinking? The research gives insight into how children learn to use symbols effectively and efficiently, on which effective strategies can be built. This and other related research highlights in particular that the more experience children have with symbols in their daily lives, the more capable they become of recognising symbols and understanding their significance. The authors therefore suggest that this knowledge could be used actively by carers and educators of young children. Activities could be planned which are be appropriate to the child's stage of development to encourage the development of symbol use in problem solving, including: talking with children to help them think through and plan their problem-solving strategies, drawing them or writing them down; encouraging children to talk about or demonstrate their ideas in solving a problem, and to listen to others ideas, since verbal and nonverbal social interaction plays an important role in the developing understanding of symbols; providing opportunities for success without causing too much frustration for younger children who have not yet developed the ability to effectively use symbols; providing encouragement without telling children what to do, for example, "Have you considered..." rather than "Try this..."